Ship raising device



sePtl2., 1944. D. DIAMANTIDES SHIPk RAISING DEVICE Filed Dec. 25, 1941 Patented Sept. 12, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l aasazis SHIP RAISING DEVICE Diamond Diamantides, Massillon, Ohio Application December 23, 1941, Serial No. 424,177

1 Claim.

This invention relates to ship raising devices, and has for one of its objects the production of a simple' and eicient grappling means for gripping the sides of a sunken vessel or ship to facilitate the raising thereof.

A further object of this invention is the production of an eicient grappling element which may be suspended above the sides of a sunken ship, and which will automatically grip the sides of a ship under the bumper guard to firmly attach the grapple to the ship to facilitate the raising of the ship.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear throughout the following specication and claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the shipraising apparatus;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the grapples or grappling members.

By referring to the drawing, it will be seen that Iii designates a sunken ship which is provided with the usual overlapping plates II which structure is conventional with all ships. A series of pontoons I2 are used in connection with the invention. The pontoons I2 are filled with water and are sunken to the desired depth acljacent and above the sunken ship I0. Air lines I3 lead to the pontoons I2 for blowing the water from the pontoons I2 when it is desired to raise the sunken vessel.

A pair of grapples I4 are suspended from the pontoons I2 by a cable I5, as shown in Figure 2, so as to position one grapple of each pair on opposite sides of the ship III. These grapples rof each pair are =tied together by the portion IS of the line I5, extending from one grapple to the opposite grapple, as shown in Figure 2. Each grapple comprises a vertical portionV I1 and an inturned right-angularly extending widened grapple foot I8-which is adapted to fit under the edge of one series of plates Il, as shown, while raising the ship I0. Each grapple I4 is also provided with an inwardly extending top arm I9 which is downwardly inclined, as shown in Figure 2. The arms I9 of the grapples I4 of each pair extend inwardly of the ship and toward each other. The inner end of each arm I9 is enlarged and is provided with an eye or apertured portion 20 through which the lower end ofthe supporting or suspending cable I passes for tying the grapples of the pairs together.

'Ihe upper ends of the cables I5 which con- Y ventional manner.

nect each pair of grapples are tied around the supporting pontoons I2, as shown, and two of these supporting pontoons are used for each pair of grapples, the grapples of each pair being connected by the transverse portion I6 of the cable I5, as shown in Figure 2. In Figure 1, the pontoons I2 are broken away to illustrate a series of pontoons within the small space permitted upon the drawing.

The operation of the device is as follows:

A series of pontoons filled with water are lowered to the desired position above the sunken vessel or ship. Pairs of grapples I4 in suitable number to suit the size of the ship to be raised are suspended from the pontoons I2 before lowering. Fifty or one hundred of these grapples may be used if desired. This apparatus is lowered until the grapples I4 reach a desired gripping position approximately the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, and the inwardly extending and downwardly inclined arms I9 will cause the grapples to assume this position. Water is then blown out of the pontoons I2 to make the pontoons buoyant and to provide lifting power. Compressed air is forced into the pontoons through the air lines I3 in the con- As the lifting power of the pontoons I2 increases, the inwardly extending arms I9 will be pulled upwardly by the cable I5 in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 2, and the grapples I4 will automatically swing to a gripping position shown in full lines in Figure 2, so that the grapple feet I8 iit under the edges of the plates II. As the pontoons I2 rise, the grapples I4, which grip the hull of the ship IB as shown, will lift the ship to a point Vnear the surface of the water where means are provided to float the ship.

It should be understood that I have provided a specially constructed grapple which may be used in any number desiredvfor automatically grippingY the sides of a sunken ship when a lifting pull is exerted upon the grapple or grapples, and Vafter the grapples have been lowered to a grappling or contacting position with respect to the sunken ship I 0.

It should be' further understood that certain detail changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, so long as such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new is:

A grapple of the class described comprising a body having an inwardly extending arm, said arm having means at its inner extremity for engaging a suspending element, a depending portion secured to the outer extremity of said arm, a right-angularly extending widened grapple foot carried by the lower extremity of said depending portion, the grapple foot aring from the depending portion outwardly toward the gripping face of the grapple foot to provide a Wide gripping face for the grapple foot and to present a maximum lifting force along its inner 10 edge for engagement with an object to be lifted,

said arm being inclined downwardly toward its inner end and being of greater length than said grapple foot and being adapted to force said foot into engagement with an object to be gripped thereby when a lifting force is exerted upon the inner end of said arm, and the Weight of said arm being adapted to swing said foot to a disengaging position when a lifting force is released from the inner end .of said arm.

DIAMOND DIAMANTIDES. 

